Chapter 27 Marietta
MARIETTA
When Adam texts me that the raid party is returning, I finally unclench my hands for the first time since dinner.
The kids haven’t moved from the television. I head to the living room, where Betz and Celia and the other Wild Hair are waiting.
Betz looks up. “They’re headed back. With two women.”
Women? Adam hadn’t mentioned that.
“What women?”
She shrugs. “The text from Fancy just says women.”
Did Merrick meet someone to bring back to the club?
No, no. I can’t think like that.
“The kids are watching TV. Should I get them to bed?” I’m going to miss the men’s return if I’m stuck in their bedroom.
But Too Fast Freddy stands. “They’re scared of me. I’ll make them hit the sack. We don’t need them seeing whatever Iron Jack’s going to drag in from a meth house.”
Celia gazes up after him. “He’s gonna be a great dad someday.”
Betz frowns. “You knocked up?”
Celia twirls a white-blonde curl. “Thinking about it.”
“Great. That’s all we need. More brats.” Betz moves to the window and peers through the blinds.
Celia’s face falls to a pout.
“I think it’s great you want kids,” I tell her. I’m relieved Freddy went to help with the children. I force myself not to think about the women about to come in. “Has anyone heard how Carol’s doing?”
Betz turns from the window. “They checked in at the hospital. Going to be a long night.”
“Should we go up there?” I ask.
“Yeah, once the kid is out. Otherwise, it’s a lot of caterwauling.” Betz peers out again. “They’re walking up.” She glances at my feet. “What the hell are you wearing?”
I glance down. They are literal bunny slippers, with pink ears sticking out and black noses with whiskers. On the back are white pom-poms.
I didn’t think through what I would look like when Merrick got back. Besides the silly slippers, my hair is tied in a long, limp ponytail. In my gray sweats, I look like—well, a mouse. A tall, underfed mouse. With bunny feet.
And they’re bringing women.
Is it too late to change again?
Betz opens the front door.
It is.
Iron Jack enters, and the moment I see what he’s carrying, all my insecurities are replaced with concern. The woman is pale and dirty. She looks around, but I’m not sure she knows what she’s seeing.
Merrick enters next with another one in about the same shape. The rest of us silently step aside as they pass through the kitchen.
Betz pushes me. “Go on, get some warm water and towels. Then, find something plain to eat. Toast maybe. Or crackers.” She turns to Fancy as he comes in. “Are we going to try to freehab those two here?”
He shrugs. “Ask Iron Jack.”
That’s all I get to hear. I have chores. I head to the linen closet, then grab the big plastic bucket under the kitchen sink. I run the water for a while, letting it warm up. I hope Merrick will come out while I’m doing it and tell me what’s happening, but he doesn’t.
Betz enters the kitchen. “You in here?” She sticks her hand under the faucet. “Good enough. Go on then. I’ll wrangle some food.”
I should have done that while the water heated. I fill the bucket and tuck the towels under my arm.
They’re in the bunkhouse, I’m sure. I realize everything I own is in there, and now my space is occupied by two random people from a rival club.
The life of a mouse.
When I enter the room, Iron Jack and Merrick are talking in the far corner, near my bed and stacks of plastic bins. The women are both on lower bunks near the door. One is lying down. The other sits up when I come in.
I set the bucket between them. “I’m Marietta. A house mouse.”
“A what?” the woman asks. She pushes a chunk of faded purple hair out of her face.
Maybe they aren’t part of the club they came from. “Never mind. Do you want to wash up? If you’re steady enough, I can show you the shower.”
The woman stands but teeters and sits down again. “I’ll sit here,” she says.
I turn to the other one. She’s curled in a ball on the mattress.
Did Betz mean for me to clean her up? I have no idea.
The first woman dunks half the towel into the water and wipes it over her face and arms. She’s wearing a ragged T-shirt and shorts, no shoes.
The other woman has on a long-sleeve hoodie that might be covered in vomit. There seems to be some on her chin, too.
“What’s your name?” I ask the one sitting up.
“Jami.” She runs the dry side of the towel over her face. “That’s Crystal, but I don’t think it’s her real name. I think it’s a joke.”
I have to think about it for a moment to get the meaning. Meth. Crystal meth.
I stick the corner of one towel in the water and use it to clean Crystal’s face. She has warm brown skin and inky black hair. Pretty, probably, although she is yellow-tinged and terribly dirty.
She’s not wearing underwear, so I tug her hoodie down to cover her better. The beds aren’t made, so she’s right on the mattress cover. That can’t be comfortable.
When I turn back to Jami, she’s staring at my feet. “Are you wearing rabbits?”
I lift one. “I guess, yeah.” I should change. This is embarrassing.
Betz comes in. “Why aren’t the beds made up? Go get some sheets.”
I jump up to obey her, sensing that Iron Jack and Merrick are looking our way.
When I pass through the kitchen, several people have gathered by the center island.
“How are they?” Celia asks. “Are they totally fried?”
“One seems all right,” I say. “The other is sleeping, I think.” I hope. “I have to get sheets.”
When I pass back through, everyone’s still talking. I head into the bunkhouse.
“This one’s coming to,” Betz says. “Give me a sheet.”
I pass her a fitted sheet and get the surprise of my life when she expertly attaches it on the first two corners, rolls the woman onto it, and affixes the other two.
“How did you know how to do that?” I ask.
“I worked in a nursing home for years before I left it for Low Joe.”
Betz is a revelation a minute. Jami stands up while Betz swiftly makes the other bed. Betz gives her a packet of Ritz crackers and a water bottle. “See how this goes down, and we can get you something more substantial.”
“Thanks,” Jami says.
“You trafficked, or were you fool enough to go with those fuckers?” Betz asks.
The woman shrugs. “Halo seemed charming.”
“A member of Lucifer’s Kin named Halo,” Betz says. “What a fucking lark.” She aims a thumb at Crystal. “What’s her story?”
“She was already living at the house when I got there a week ago. She hits the needle kind of hard.”
“Looks like it.”
“She used to be the girlfriend of Taz,” Jami says. “But she’s been a pass around.”
Betz lets out a low harrumph. “She ever sober?”
Jami shrugs. “Sometimes.”
“When was the last time?”
“Maybe a week ago.”
Betz steps to the end of the bunk. “I don’t know about detoxing them here,” Betz calls, stopping his conversation with Merrick. “That one might be more than we can chew.”
“I’ll call Julie,” he says. “She’ll check on them, and we’ll do what she says.”
“Who’s Julie?” I ask.
Betz turns to me. “Hoss’s mother. She’s a nurse practitioner, you know, one of those fancy nurses that do what doctors used to.” Betz assesses the women. “Go find them something to wear from the bunny closet.”
That’s where we’ve been fetching some of my outfits, although most are too big for me. And for these women, given their forms.
But I head to the back of the room. “Excuse me,” I say to the men. “I need in here.”
They step away from the closet door. I open it and jerk the string for the light.
“What do you think?” Iron Jack asks.
I assume he’s talking to Merrick, so I continue sorting through the shelves for something soft and clean. Most of the items are completely inappropriate.
“Marietta?” It’s Merrick.
He didn’t call me Mouse. “Yeah?”
“Iron Jack was asking what you think.” His forehead is creased with concern. I wonder what all they saw when they brought these two back.
“About them?”
“Yeah,” Iron Jack says. “You live here. We don’t know them, and Lucifer’s Kin might try to get them back. We’ve put you in a predicament.”
I glance at my bins. “I wouldn’t mind having a place to put my things. Get them out of the way. I have lots of textbooks, and gosh, you know. When they get stronger, they might be … mad. Might act out. I can leave, but my stuff …”
“I get it,” Iron Jack says. “We have a room set aside for Merrick. We’ll move you to that room until we have a handle on what we’ve got here.”
A room of my own! Merrick’s, even.
“Okay. Thank you.” I find a pair of gray leggings on the shelves and toss them over my shoulder.
“It’s next to Adam,” Iron Jack says. “If that’s working out.”
I glance at Merrick. He’s staring in the other direction, his jaw tense.
I better speak up while I can. “I don’t, um, think it … will. But I guess maybe I don’t know.”
Iron Jack nods. “That’s fine. It was just an idea.
” His eyes shift between watching Merrick, then me, then back to Merrick.
“Prospect, why don’t you move her things to the room?
And I might want you to stay with her there tonight.
If the Kin are going to retaliate quickly, they’ll do it before daybreak. ”
I turn back to the shelves, pretending to dig but my hands are shaking. Did he order Merrick to stay with me in his room? Are we going to be alone in there?
I find a zebra print sweatshirt that would make the ‘90s proud, but it’s worn and soft, so I pull it, barely breathing, waiting for Merrick to answer.
“I can do that,” he says. “But if you’re going to leave me alone with her, things might happen.”
I freeze, my hand on a shelf. Did he just say that?
“I see,” Iron Jack says. “Mouse, are you amenable to this? Is he your choice?”
My hand is still shaking, so I shove it beneath the sweatshirt folded over my arm. “Yes.”
“All right, then,” Iron Jack says. “I hope that it’s sooner rather than later so we can stop concerning ourselves with Marietta’s innocence.”
I have a name. Does that mean I won’t be a mouse anymore?
My throat catches. “Will I have to leave the clubhouse if I’m not a mouse?”
Iron Jack looks between us again. “I’d feel better if you were here.
And if Merrick would commit to spending a short period, say two weeks, living in the club for your protection.
Then, you can decide what Marietta’s role will be.
She can return to being a mouse if she chooses.
She doesn’t have to be an ol’ lady to be here. ”
Now it’s Merrick’s gaze that flicks between me and the president. “I can do that.”
“Good. I’ll leave you to the work. I want to talk to the rest of the club about how we will handle patrols tonight.” He takes off in long strides.
I hug the clothes as I turn to Merrick. “So, it’s tonight, then?” I ask. “And for a couple of weeks?”
His gaze is hot, and my throat constricts. “Yes.” Then, he picks up a stack of my plastic bins and heads out of the bunkhouse.
I glance at Betz. She’s opening crackers and handing them to Crystal. I guess she’s awake now, too.
I dig quickly through the clothes and find another T-shirt and some loose jeans. Good enough.
As I walk back to the front bunks, it hits me.
I’m moving out of the bunkhouse for at least two weeks.
And I’m finally getting to sleep with him.
Properly. On a bed.
Betz’s harsh voice cuts through my fog. “Have you lost your hearing, Mouse? What did Iron Jack say to you?”
I shake myself loose. “He asked Merrick to move my things into a room and for me to stay there.”
She passes a cracker to Crystal. “Good call until this all shakes out. Too many windows in here. Back of the house. Hard to protect.” She watches Crystal shove the cracker in her mouth. “These two are looking better. I’ll hang out with them. Is Iron Jack getting Julie over?”
“Yeah,” I say absently. “She’ll decide if they can stay here or need medical attention.”
“I think they’re all right, but it’s good she’s coming.” She takes the clothes. “Well, go on. You have to obey Iron Jack.”
I guess I do. I head to the back of the room and zip my biggest suitcase to roll out.
Time to move on to what’s next.
My belly flutters at the thought.